Spider DNA Can Now Be Extracted From Spider Webs

Perfecting noninvasive DNA sampling could help researchers monitor and study a variety of species without interfering. For their study, researchers from the University of Notre Dame studied the webs of three black widow spiders that were fed house crickets in order to noninvasively extract and examine mitochondrial DNA to identify both the spiders and their prey.

In this study the researchers used three black widow spiders that were fed house crickets to extract and sequence DNA from the web samples. In fact, when the sticky material left on their webs is analyzed, it can also reveal what they had eaten weeks after they caught the prey.

For the goal of the study, the researchers looked at black widow spider in a zoo.

In the past, identification of spiders used to rely heavily on their morphology – basically looking at the spiders’ genitalia – but this method was associated with a lot of errors.

Usually found in temperate world regions, everyone knows that the bite of the black widow spider can be very deadly; and to underscore how bad they are, the female black widow spider can kill and eat up a male partner after mating. These samples of DNA can be sequenced and amplified for analysis, as per the study.

The study said: ‘Spider web DNA as a proof-of-concept may open doors to other practical applications in conservation research, pest management, biogeography studies, and biodiversity assessments’.

This sparkling research would certainly call for the future research on the insect’s DNA for around 45,000 species.

In addition, spiders can now be identified without physically collecting or capturing the spiders themselves, as scientists can now use this DNA traces on the webs.

He said the next step is to look for DNA from numerous spider species in a range of habitats to understand how useful spider web DNA is under different conditions. It has been used many times in the past, but it was the first time when the process was used to identify spiders, they added. The objective is to identify endangered and invasive species.

“Furthermore, unlike most spiders, which are small, mobile, and elusive, webs are relatively large, stationary, and often clearly visible”.

‘Spider webs may also remain after spiders move or die, which increases detection probability especially for more elusive species, ‘ the study says.